Many antibiotic-producing microorganisms are known to produce more than one antibiotic substance during fermentation. Some produce a complex of antibiotic substances which are similar in structure to one another or which differ structurally. One such microorganism is Actinoplanes sp. ATCC 23342 which produces antibiotic A-4696, U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,095. Antibiotic A-4696 factors A and B were subsequently discovered in the A-4696 complex and are described by U.S. Pat. No. 4,115,522.
The separation of individual antibiotic substances from an antibiotic complex containing multi-factors often presents problems, particularly when a single factor is desired for commercial use. Approaches to obtain a single factor include strain selection and mutation of the microorganism in the hope that the new strain will provide the single factor or more abundant quantities of the desired factor. Oftentimes in the pursuit of this approach, a new strain is found which produces a new antibiotic compound either alone or along with the factors produced by the prior strain.
The present invention provides a new A-4696 factor which is obtained by culturing a new strain of Actinoplanes missouriensis, the organism known to produce antibiotic A-4696 complex and the individual A and B factors.
The present invention arose out of development work involving strain selection, strain mutation, and isolation efforts directed at the A-4696 antibiotic. Other novel A-4696 factors discovered by Manuel Debono, Kurt E. Merkel, Robert E. Weeks and Herald J. Cole are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,406.